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Hope Chosen for Symposium

Hope College is among 28 colleges and universities invited to participate in the first national symposium on "Science Education for New Civic Engagements and responsibilities" (SENCER).

The Symposium, held at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), caps Phase I of SENCER, a new initiative supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) designed to link science education and current issues. "SENCER's aim is to improve undergraduate science education by supporting approaches that teach 'though' complex, unsolved public issues 'to' basic science," said David Burns, senior policy director at AAC&U and the director of SENCER. "We were delighted with the nomination we received from Hope College and impressed by their commitment to high quality, innovative instruction in the sciences." Dr. Janet Andersen is the coordinator for Hope College's GEMS (General Education Mathematics and Science) program. GEMS courses are designed to help students learn science and mathematics, appreciate their power as well as limitations, and engage students in the real-world problems that require science. The GEMS program consists of a collection of one mathematics course, six laboratory science courses, and eight investigative topical courses. Each of the courses is interdisciplinary and designed to meet the needs of non- science, non-mathematics majors. Andersen is the principal investigator for an NSF grant that supported the development of three of the courses ("Mathematics in Public Discourse," "Populations in a Changing Environment" and "The Atmosphere and Environmental Change"). Dr. John Krupczak is the principal investigator for another NSF grant that supported the development of "Science and Technology in Everyday Life," the college's first GEMS course. "Students need to be engaged with the great issues of our day, and increasingly, more than a modest scientific literacy is required in understanding the choices we need to make in a democracy," Burns said. "Courses that enlist students in the analysis and solution of complex problems will not only help us teach science better, but we hope that students who complete them will be able to be more effective citizens, as well." "There's a pretty broad range of issues that require scientific analyses and approaches, or at least a robust appreciation of scientific claims about matters of great consequence," said Karen Kashmanian Oates, who is AAC&U's senior science fellow and a professor at George Mason University. "We have received nominations of courses that have taught science though a focus on biomedical issues, HIV/AIDS, the emergence of new diseases, nuclear disarmament, migration, the human genome project, environmental issues, and many others." At the close of this initial planning year, SENCER will be developing a comprehensive national dissemination strategy so that the work of Hope College and others may be shared with others who are committed to improving science education. "We are grateful to Hope College for the leadership they are showing on this very tough issue of science education. Our efforts are certainly benefiting from our association with the important work that Dr. Andersen and others at Hope College are doing," Burns said. Founded in 1915, AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening undergraduate liberal education. AAC&U's membership represents some 700 institutions who collectively enroll more than four million students.